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THE KING’ S BUSINESS
time, but possibility of nearness. “ Take ye heed, watch, for ye know not when the time is.” (Mark 13:33). Such statements rebuke those who have brought the doctrine into disrepute by announcing dates for “ the end of the world,” and by setting times for the com ing of Christ. So, too, they suggest caution to those who assert that the age Is now drawing to its close; it may be, but of this there is no certainty. These Scriptural ‘ exhortations to watch seem to contradict, also, those who teach that a “ millennium,” a thousand years or a protracted period of righteousness, must intervene between the present time and the advent of Christ. Those who hold this last view are commonly called “ Post-millennialists” to distinguish them from “ Pre-millennial- ists,” who hold that the return of Christ will precede and usher in such an age of universal blessedness. The great objection to the Pre-mil- lennial position is the apparent pre diction of II Pet. 3, that at the coming of Christ, in “ the day of the Lord,” the earth will be destroyed; there could then be no place for a millennium. The difficulty in the Post-millennial theory is the repeated description of this pres ent age as one of mingled good and evil, In which iniquity, as well as righteous ness,continues to develop uninterrupt edly; there is thus no time for a millen nium before the Lord returns. As to the passage from Peter, is is obviously no more subversive of one of these theo ries than of the other. .No one can possibly review th’e picture, which the Apostle draws in his two epistles, of the apostasy and skepticism and godlessness already prevailing and surely deepen ing as “ the day of the Lord” draws near, and find any place for a previous millen nium before “ that day.” The predic tions of fiery judgments and consequent “ new heavens and new earth” must be read in conection with Isaiah 65 and 66, from which Peter is quoting. It will
t Is Ckrist’s Coming | | Imminent? | I PROF. CHAS. R. ERDMAN |
he Bible describes the comine of Christ as imminent. It i* an event which may occur in any lifetime. Whatever diffi
culties the fact involves, there is no doubt that all the inspired writers and their fellow Christians believed that Christ might return in their generation. This has been the normal attitude of the Church ever since. Paul describes be lievers as men “ who have turned to God from idols” and who “ wait for His Son from heaven.” Christians are further described as “ those that wait for Him,” and as “ those that love His appearing.” They are everywhere in the New Testa ment exhorted to “ watch,” and to be ready for the return of their Lord. His coming is their constant encouragement and inspiration and hope. (I Thess. 4: 18; I Pet. 4:8; Matt. 24:42; Mark 13: 35, 37; Luke 21:36; Phil. 4 :5). However, “ imminent” does not mean “ immediate.” Confusion of these ideas has led some writers to assert that “ Paul and the early Christians were mistaken in their views as to the Lord’s return." But, when Paul used such a phrase as “ we that are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord,” he meant simply to identify himself with his fellow Christians, and to suggest that, if he lived until Christ came, their blessed experience would also be his. He could not have said, “ ye that are alive and re main;” that would have indicated that Paul was to die first. This he did not then know. He believed that the Lord might return in his lifetime; he never asserted that He would. "Imminence” as related to our Lord's return indicates uncertainty as to the
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